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How do I delete documents?

N

nellie

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 2, 2008
16
0
I have had my mac 10.2.8 for about four years. During that time I have not deleted any of the hundreds of documents I have created because I cannot figure out how to do that. The HELP menu certainly does not help. When I type in "delete documents", there are no instructions that come up that relate to this problem. I have searched the HELP Index, but cannot find anything useful. I have a compUSA training manual that talks about "dragging the file and dropping it on the Trash icon, you can select the document and select the Move to Trash command in theFile menu, or you can select the document and use the keyboard shortcut command delete." Nothing works.

Also, I have subscribed to the yearly backup software. When I try to do backup, the message says there is not room enough on the idisk. Even when I uncheck all of the categories that are listed for backup, the message still says there is not room enough on the idisk. Or when I choose just one thing such as address book for backup, the message still says there is not room enough on the idisk.
 
It sounds like your computer is messed up, as all the things you describe are ways to move the files to the trash. Unless you mean that you just don't know how to make the files in the trash disappear, which is called "emptying the trash." Is that what you mean? More importantly, why are you still using 10.2? 10.3 was the first really acceptable version of OS X.
 
Once you drag the files you wish to remove to the Trash (the wire wastebasket icon on the dock), you may then go to the Finder menu (next to the Apple) and select "Empty Trash".

I would be curious to know what kind of computer you have, as I would suspect that you do need a new version of OS X. 10.3 or 10.4 is likely all that your computer can run, but the upgrades to the structure of OS X make in 10.3 (Panther) and 10.4 (Tiger) is immense and will likely give you a whole new computing experience.

TEG
 
Hmm. Today I found a way to delete a lot of my documents! I think I went to Appleworks and chose VIEW, and from there I could drag them into the trash either one by one or by highlighting many of them. I don't think I ever had the option of deleting them by going into the actual document and then from the FILE menu choosing MOVE TO TRASH. MOVE TO TRASH was nowhere on the FILE menu ever. Before, also, when I was trying to delete documents with Appleworks, I would OPEN, and I tried to highlight each document name individually so I could just drag the document name to the trash, and that didn't work. (In the past when I tried to use the HELP section by putting in "delete documents", well, nothing in the list was helpful at all. For such a basic function, I would think there should be an explanation.)

Today I deleted about 450 Appleworks documents, leaving about 75. Somehow those 75 appeared under the FINDER and were no longer anywhere in Appleworks OPEN. (I have no idea how I must have moved them to FINDER.) Oh, dear, that didn't look good.

Therefore I thought I had better backup to the idisk, but it still kept saying, "There is not enough space available for this backup." I don't understand this because it used to work even with all of my Appleworks documents including the 450! I have flagged 2 items for backup, and it says they are 37.57 mb. Is that over the limit for the basic backup purchase which I think was $10 for a year?

Since I could not use the idisk for backup, I backupped to the hard drive. (I know that doesn't make much sense, but when I have tried to backup to a disk a few times, that didn't work either. I might have bought not-compatible disks.) When I came back to the computer later today, I could not find my 75 saved documents - panic, panic; so I restored from the backupped hard drive, and now those 75 plus the 450 are on Appleworks again. (I don't know - I must have backed up to the hard drive before I emptied the trash. ???) The trash is completely empty now. I also deleted everything in email - Sent, In, Trash. Yes, I did know how to empty the trash these many years - it was just that I could not get my Appleworks documents TO the trash. I will need to delete my 450 documents again.

"About this mac" says I have 256 mb 10.2.8 Processor 1 GFHz Power PC G4. That is what came with the computer when I bought it. I get the automatic software updates apparently, but that is not what you are talking about when you say "version", is it? What version of mac software should I get that will work with my computer? Oh, god, please don't tell me I need more hard drive space - I am confused enough as it is. My computer is probably just fine; I, however, am happiest with some crayons and a piece of paper.
 
Okay, when you're in the finder and you drag a file onto the trash icon in the dock and let go of the mouse button to drop it into the trash, exactly what happens. Please give a 1 sentence answer to that question. (you can tell us other info too in other additional sentences, but just make your answer to that particukar question as a 1 sentence response, just so we can keep things clear)
 
Nellie, please take this as constructive advice...
You need to gain a fundamental understanding of your Mac. Advice we give you here online is not going to help much until you get a grounding in how your Mac stores files and operates.

My suggestion is to contact your local Mac users group and ask for someone to sit with you and take you through the basics of Mac operation in person. Someone may volunteer, or they may ask for a small fee for the tutorial. If you are like me, you understand things best if you are shown them, rather than reading descriptions.

You can find a local user group by searching at Apple's website:
http://www.apple.com/usergroups/find/
 
CanadaRAM said:
My suggestion is to contact your local Mac users group and ask for someone to sit with you and take you through the basics of Mac operation in person.
Click to expand...

Excellent advice 'Ram
This will save a lot of frustration in trying to follow instructions on the board

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
EricNau said:
Definitely. Also, nellie, if you live near an Apple Store, they offer free classes. I think you would find them very helpful.
Click to expand...

Which is also an excellent point... location... where are you located?
If you are not near a store or user group, that will change things again.

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
How to delete files or documents

Hello, I'm not sure if Nellie was able to delete the documents, but here is how:

Delete files
Why?
To recover space on your disk (or simply to keep your computer free of clutter), you can delete files that you no longer need.
How?

In the Finder, open /Users/username/Documents. (Your name)

Tip If the files are in a different location, open that folder.
Hold down ⌘, and then select the documents that you want to delete.
Tip To see files displayed in a list, on the View menu, click as List.
Drag the files to the Trash.
On the Finder menu, click Empty Trash.

Hints
Any documents that you drag to the Trash remain on your disk until you empty the Trash.

Hope this helps someone!
 
maclover11 said:
Hello, I'm not sure if Nellie was able to delete the documents, but here is how:

....

Hope this helps someone!
Click to expand...

Sadly, Nellie is no longer with us. In late 2008, ....

Um, yeah, this is four years old!

Oh, and if you are still around Nellie, how's it goin'?
 
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